Best bets

U-Theater Sound of the Ocean

Date: Sept 8-9 - 7:30 pm

Venue: National Centre for the Performing Arts

Sound of the Ocean, a monumental work about water, was originally created in 1998 to celebrate U Theater's 10th Anniversary for a performance at the world-renowned French Festival d'Avignon. It tells of the "water of life, which nourishes our souls". The music and drumming and movement simulate the remarkably diverse and distinctive sounds of water in its five sections: Collapse, Flowing Water, Breakers, Listening to the Ocean Heart, and Sound of the Ocean as individual drops gather together to form a stream and streams create a river which eventually rushes into the ocean. Sound of the Ocean is not a narrative drama performance. There is neither storyline, nor dialogue. It simply and abstractly expresses the conception of "water". The audiences do not need to seek storyline from it, but to feel the flowing of water. The flowing of water represents the journey of life, and each audience is set to experience their own life's story right there, and respond themselves to Sound of the Ocean. The performance is a sharing, between the performers and the audiences - sharing life, sharing continuous moments and sharing the present.

Flamenco Carmen

Date: Oct 4-5 - 7 pm

Venue: Beijing Exhibition Center

Carmen, a beautiful tragedy written by Prosper Merimee, was initially staged as an opera adapted by composer Georges Bizet, then it becomes an unfailing artwork on the world stage. It is also one of the world's most frequently performed and popular masterpieces. Carmen's love is natural, fiery and unrestrained. She is a bold and unfettered gypsy girl, and also a proud gypsy woman with half an angel and half a devil. Love grows envy and envy begets hate. The story, derived from Gypsies' unbridled rebellious nature, can only be interpreted accurately by Flamenco, the quintessence of the Spanish culture. Ines Rubio was born in Reus, Tarragona. In 2011 she started to work with Iberia, a Japanese company that brought her on tour through Japan while sharing scenarios with Enrique El Extremeno, Juan Jose Amador, among many others. She has also taught flamenco lessons in different regions of Japan during 2012. One year later she traveled to Russia alongside the flamenco artist Javier Serrano. In 2014, Ines Rubio performed in the Ronda Flamenco Festival where she shared scenario with Marina Heredia and Jose Merce, among others.

Dua Lipa 2018 Live in Guangzhou

Date: Sept 11 - 8 pm

Venue: Guangzhou Dr Sun Yat-Sen Memorial Hall

Born in London to Albanian parents from Kosovo, Dua Lipa attended the Sylvia Young Theatre School until she was 11, when she and her family moved back to Kosovo. Encouraged by her teacher, Lipa convinced her parents to let her move back to London when she was 15 to follow her aspirations to become a singer and songwriter. She recorded songs and covers, posted them on social media and was discovered by Lana Del Rey's management team, who recognized her talent and signed her. After a year of No 1 hit singles, sold out shows and record breaking streaming figures, Dua Lipa has become the biggest breakout artist in the world. The video for her smash hit single "New Rules" is now sitting at over 1.3 billion views on YouTube. Already collecting major accolades at the top of 2018, Dua scooped two BRIT Awards after being nominated in five categories, performed to 85 million people at the UEFA Champion League Football final and has sold over 2.5 million albums and 31 million singles worldwide.

BalletBoyz: Life

Date: Sept 14-15 - 7:30 pm

Venue: Shanghai International Dance Center

BalletBoyz was co-founded in 2000 by ex-Royal Ballet dancers Michael Nunn and William Trevitt. For ten years the company performed around the world and won numerous awards and accolades working with leading dancers, choreographers and designers. In 2005 BalletBoyz became Associate Artists at Sadler's Wells, an appointment which was followed by shows Naked (2005), Encore (2006) and Greatest Hits! (2008). 2010 saw the first edition of the groundbreaking project the Talent, in which eight young male dancers were selected from a variety of backgrounds. The dancers were coached and mentored to create a company of first-class contemporary ballet performers. Now in its eighteenth year, the company has expanded to ten dancers and regularly tours both nationally and internationally. In 2013 BalletBoyz won the National Dance Award for Best Independent Company.